By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tulsa athletic director Judy MacLeod knows her men's basketball team better have a favorable non-conference record against quality teams every season, because a good showing in the Western Athletic Conference, or in any other conference outside of the six majors, doesn't guarantee a low seed in the NCAA Tournament. Or a berth at all, for that matter.

But building that nonconference schedule with quality opponents is half the battle for mid-majors on the rise, such as Xavier and Tulsa. The schools aren't attractive opponents to powers in the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific 10 or Southeastern conferences, because a win by the big school is no sure thing and a loss might look bad to poll voters and NCAA Selection Committee members.

"Success has hurt us," MacLeod said. "It has made scheduling much more difficult. People are not willing to take a chance, and it's tough to find good games outside of the conference."

It's all about the RPI - Ratings Percentage Index - which measures strength of schedule.

Tulsa, an Elite Eight team in 2000, went 9-2 in non-conference games last season and finished 25-7 overall but received a No.12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Its most impressive nonconference win: a 73-66 overtime victory at Oral Roberts, which finished 165th in the RPI.

Tulsa finished the season with an RPI of 33 due in large part to a diluted schedule in the WAC, the 10th-ranked conference in the RPI.

Tulsa's two non-league losses, however, were to major-conference powers Arkansas and Kansas, proving it's not impossible to get a quality game or two on the schedule.

In fact, said Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood, teams from the Big Six are following the Selection Committee's advice and scheduling tougher games against better opponents.

"There is a major effort to get all schools to play a lot of different schools," Livengood said. "We're playing more teams, and we need to play them."

Livengood said for a school such as Xavier to get a home-and-home deal with a program like Arizona, the Musketeers don't have to make a deep NCAA Tournament run every year as long as they stay competitive.

"Xavier is going about it exactly the right way," Livengood said. "Gradually, teams and schools will start to play them. It's a good basketball program, and its reputation is far greater outside of Cincinnati."

What Livengood said is starting to show up on Xavier's schedule this season, the most challenging in school history. Besides the annual Crosstown Shootout with Cincinnati, Xavier plays host to the Big Ten's Purdue, plays No.12 Mississippi State of the SEC on a neutral court and travels to No.8 Alabama, also of the SEC. Depending on which teams advance in the Preseason National Invitation Tournament, Xavier could play No.7 Florida (SEC) and No.2 Kansas (Big12) as well.

Last season, other than Cincinnati, the Musketeers' best opponent was Kent State, which finished the season ranked 12th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and 25th in the RPI.

Now that Xavier has quality teams on its schedule, winning those games becomes important. With the Atlantic 10 coming off a weak season in which it ranked ninth in conference RPI, non-conference wins could be Xavier's best hope for a low seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, XU went 26-6 with a No.14 RPI, which yielded a No.7 seed in the NCAA West Regional. After a win over Hawaii, XU was faced with No.2 Oklahoma, which went all the way to the Final Four.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

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